Memorial Day 2013: Remembering 151 fallen soldiers from N.J. who served in Iraq, Afghanistan

Members of a US Navy ceremonial team carry the casket of one of two unknown sailors who were killed in 1862 when the ironclad USS Monitor sank off the coast of North Carolina during the Civil war to their final resting place at a funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery on March 8.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Since late 2002, more than 6,600 American service members have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those deaths include 151 people with significant New Jersey ties.

They are soldiers like Sgt. Steven Checo of Elizabeth, who joined a youth cadet program at age 13 and thrived on activities like swimming, hiking and paintball in the quasi-military program for teenagers.

He joined the Army and served in Afghanistan where, shortly before his death, he told his uncle that he loved everything about his job in the rugged environment, except for the food.

Checo, 22, was the first service member with New Jersey ties to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While serving in Afghanistan, he was shot in a pre-dawn firefight on Dec. 21, 2002, near the Pakistan border, and died during surgery in a field hospital.

Army Lt. Ashley Henderson Huff of Hillsborough was killed by a suicide bomber in Mosul, Iraq, on Sept. 19, 2006. A graduate of Montgomery High School and an expert in martial arts, she was the first woman from New Jersey to die in the war.

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The 23-year-old said she wanted to use her time in Iraq to help change perceptions in a male-dominated society.

Most recently, Marine Staff Sgt. Eric D. Christian of Ramsey was killed in action in Farah province. According to his family, Christian, 39, was attacked by an Afghan National Army soldier he was training.

To read more, visit nj.com/wardead for a full listing of New Jersey's 151 fallen service members in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the left side of the page, click the three tabs to view the fallen soldiers by town, photo gallery and sortable list. Also, scroll over the graphics for breakdowns of ages, branch of service, years killed and more.